[Event] We Benefit 99er Cycle Tour 2019

[Karman de Lange]

not sure if this is the right forum to chat about the race and little incidents, 

 

53km into the ride and some Kn%b clips my back wheel, ends up riding onto the wheel buckling it,  end of the race for me, 50 plus race rides and first crash so the ego is more bruised than my thigh that was gouged by the saddle. 

 

surely a rider is responsible for his own front wheel, move over or back down if bunch riding makes you nervous. 

 

thanks to the support team for collecting me rather quickly and almost every rider to pass asking if i was ok - must be Northern suburbs okes cos you hardly get that from some riders in the South.

 

Sorry about fall .. but currently its scary in bunches... last race I had to ask somone nicely not to text while sitting in middle of the bunch... and this was C bunch . 

 

Probably why I keep on hammering about that seeding need to be earned over few races, not just one .

 

L:

[thisismyotherbike]

So my question, why at certain points did the groups again not only cross the white line but nearly crossed the yellow line on the other side of the road

Groups that got to big? Riders apathy? Fear of being dropped especially around corners? Or not consequences of being penalised ?

 

A batch was remarkably well-behaved, I suspect this is highly correlated with the fact that we had a strict marshal with an earsplitting voice warning people to keep left of the line.

 

One chump kept crossing right to see the head of the group, then pushed back in disrupting everyone.  After a thunderous "THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING" (as he was trying to explain why it wasn't his fault) the behavior magically ceased.

 

I realise A batch isn't quite as competitive as $, but the guys in A seem to take it pretty seriously and cross the line often in other races.

 

I believe enforcement can change the behavior.  Despite a large bunch I certainly felt safer in this race than a few before.

[Skubarra]

 

 

I believe enforcement can change the behavior.  Despite a large bunch I certainly felt safer in this race than a few before.

 

As I said on the SCT thread - groups that are too large is a big part of the problem, but it is also wrong for us as cyclists to just deflect all responsibility to the organisers. Going over the white line is almost always a choice and not something you are forced to do.

[devocean]

As I said on the SCT thread - groups that are too large is a big part of the problem, but it is also wrong for us as cyclists to just deflect all responsibility to the organisers. Going over the white line is almost always a choice and not something you are forced to do.

 

I rode in % bunch and there was no need for crossing the white line as there was ZERO racing at all

[buchanan]

As I said on the SCT thread - groups that are too large is a big part of the problem, but it is also wrong for us as cyclists to just deflect all responsibility to the organisers. Going over the white line is almost always a choice and not something you are forced to do.

 

So right and I wish more racers would acknowledge this. But many of them prefer to miss the point completely and start babbling on about echelons or how 'you don't know what you are talking about since you don't ride in the elite groups'.  (Meanwhile we do ride in those groups and that's why we are bringing it up).

[Pure Savage]

Here's my little clip of the day.

 

 

I started in E group which was mostly calm until the Pure Savage gents from G group came rolling through between Fisantekraal and the R44. A few minutes of huffing and puffing as they laid down the hammer before they dropped the bulk of us. I'm guessing that a few people from our group managed to stick with them.

 

The rest of the ride I just stayed up near the front of the group and finished 17/76 which I'm super stoked with 

I was waiting for the part of our little train to come past

[Pure Savage]

A batch was remarkably well-behaved, I suspect this is highly correlated with the fact that we had a strict marshal with an earsplitting voice warning people to keep left of the line.

 

One chump kept crossing right to see the head of the group, then pushed back in disrupting everyone.  After a thunderous "THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING" (as he was trying to explain why it wasn't his fault) the behavior magically ceased.

 

I realise A batch isn't quite as competitive as $, but the guys in A seem to take it pretty seriously and cross the line often in other races.

 

I believe enforcement can change the behavior.  Despite a large bunch I certainly felt safer in this race than a few before.

The G bunch were very well behaved on Saturday.  

 

One strange part was we had about 6/7 guys in the group and the bike marshal kept wanting us to ride in the yellow lane, with the group rotating and some of the gusts this is not ideal nor safe when people start trying to dodge cat eyes. 

 

We were single file catching groups 6 abreast touching the white lane but the marshal wanted us in the yellow lane? 

[KingZA]

I was waiting for the part of our little train to come past

 

I'm about 99% sure the camera was off at the time 

 

Best I go check before I get dished out some hill repeats or something

[OneLove]

That start was rough.. Tasted blood pretty much all the way

You think anybody noticed the picture perfect sun rise and the bokkies running next to the bunch????? Going through the houses all I smelt was rubber and brake pads.

[Cat2forLife]

So right and I wish more racers would acknowledge this. But many of them prefer to miss the point completely and start babbling on about echelons or how 'you don't know what you are talking about since you don't ride in the elite groups'.  (Meanwhile we do ride in those groups and that's why we are bringing it up).

 

Funny thing is, after being dropped from the $ group, I rode most of the race with the % group. There was A LOT of white line crossing going on.

 

But sorry, that shouldn't be mentioned. It's only ever the a******s in $ that would dare do something like that.

[Cat2forLife]

You think anybody noticed the picture perfect sun rise and the bokkies running next to the bunch? Going through the houses all I smelt was rubber and brake pads.

 

I highly doubt anyone noticed anything other than the taste of blood and the smell of rubber and melting carbon braking surfaces.

 

But having the video gives us a chance to admire the sunrise 

[Skubarra]

 

But sorry, that shouldn't be mentioned. It's only ever the a******s in $ that would dare do something like that.

 

Said no one here ever.

 

But the a*****s in $ have been telling us noobs we can't expect to to understand why $-riders cross the white line if we haven't raced there ourselves.

[Cat2forLife]

Said no one here ever.

 

But the a*****s in $ have been telling us noobs we can't expect to to understand why $-riders cross the white line if we haven't raced there ourselves.

 

So do you not agree that the chances of crossing a white line is much bigger in a racing bunch than in the alphabet bunches, where riders generally split up more, creating smaller groups? And also, if you haven't raced there, then yes, you wouldn't know. Just like I have never performed heart surgery, so I wouldn't know what goes on in an operating theatre.

[Cat2forLife]

Said no one here ever.

 

But the a*****s in $ have been telling us noobs we can't expect to to understand why $-riders cross the white line if we haven't raced there ourselves.

 

And yes, that is EXACTLY what Buchanan said in the SCT thread.

[Skubarra]

And yes, that is EXACTLY what Buchanan said in the SCT thread.

 

OK, then Buchanan is wrong. So you only realised that it's not only in $ where this happens when you were dropped to %?

 

 

So do you not agree that the chances of crossing a white line is much bigger in a racing bunch than in the alphabet bunches, where riders generally split up more, creating smaller groups?

 

A lot of the front bunches stay mostly together, in fact it can even be worse because bunches often merge which is not something that happens with $. It's only from the middle bunches where riders split up in smaller groups.

 

I have ridden in $, understanding how the group dynamics work there is not as hard as understanding heart surgery.

[Pure Savage]

Sho that escalated quickly!!